Color of Roses
by Mandy of the Amoeba
Summary: Another one of my pitiful attempts at songfic. This one's about James and Lily, which is surprising....I've never written anything about them before. Please R/R


A/N: Okay, PLEASE don't flame me/hate me for writing this. I know, it's probably a horribly overdone plot....actually, there is no plot to this, anyway..... but I had to use this song somewhere in a fic, and, well, this is what popped into my head. Again, sorry if this is completely pointless. Oh, right, the disclaimer. I don't own the characters, J.K. Rowling does. Bette Midler sings Color of Roses, one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. If you get the chance, DOWNLOAD it from somewhere. You won't regret it. And now, on with the songfic!  
  
_  
Color of Roses_  
  
  
_I held you close to me  
Once in a distant dream  
Far from the shores of my fears  
I sailed on the ocean where  
All I imagined  
Could happen, and now you are here_  
  
James Potter smiled at the woman sleeping next to him, the woman he had been married to for the past three years. Every since he first set eyes on her at Hogwarts, Lily had been his dream-girl, but no longer did she have to be just a dream. He watched her sleeping now, her strawberry blonde hair spilled out on the pillow, moonlight pooling from the window onto her childlike face. It was moments like this that he treasured, the moments when time seemed to stop, letting him fix in his memory the image he held of this beautiful woman that was his wife. He knew how lucky he was....how many people can say that they've found true love, a love that can conquer all the odds? And to think, if it weren't for one letter, this paradise might have never come into existence for him....  
  
_It's so hard to touch   
What is out of our hands  
To know and to trust  
What the heart understands_  
  
He had always been too shy with his emotions to come out and tell the untouchable Lily how he felt, and the prospect of dating her had seemed like a beautiful fairy tale that could never come true. She was in the same year with him at Hogwarts, both of them in Gryffindor, and they had quickly joined the same circle of friends. They all relied on each other for companionship, and everyone in the group would stick up for Lily in a heartbeat if someone dared call her a Mudblood. The someone was usually Severus Snape, who despised Lily and all of her friends because she had turned him down at the start of their second year. She was a studious girl, and rarely dated, which dampened James' spirits considerably. Why should he have a chance with her over anyone else?  
  
_Only the ones who believe  
Ever see what they dream  
Ever dream what comes true  
_  
Finally, at the beginning of their seventh year together, he had gotten the courage to pour all his feelings out on paper for her. James may not have been a good speaker, but he was a very eloquent writer, and his heartfelt note won Lily over. They began dating immediately, and were engaged before graduation. Six months later, they had gotten married, a magical ceremony in more ways than one.  
  
_Life gives us magic and  
Life brings us tragedy  
Everyone suffers some loss  
Still, we have faith in it  
Childlike hope  
There's a reason that outweighs the cost_  
  
Their life together as Mr. and Mrs. Potter hadn't been without hardships: no marriage is. There had been arguments, mostly petty issues, but they always seemed to work out in the end. Once, the young couple had been dangerously close to bankruptcy, but a raise in pay for James and a better job for Lily had taken care of that. She miscarried her first child less than a year after they were married, a little girl she called Rose. The grieving mother went through a state of depression, but that, too, had passed with time. Both of them had such optimistic personalities and innocent faith in their beliefs that even the dark hours of life couldn't destroy their happiness. There was just too much to live for!  
  
_And gravity throws   
All these rules in our way  
And sometimes the spirit  
Refuses to play_  
  
One of their biggest problems was their families. James was a pure blooded wizard, while Lily was Muggle born. Most of their relatives were very accepting of this, and encouraged the families to all join together as one. There were exceptions, however. Lily's sister Petunia hated the Potters with a vengeance. Lily, full of nothing but love for her older sister, couldn't seem to comprehend this hatred, and constantly tried to patch things up. Jealousy can do terrible things to a person's heart, and Petunia had been insanely jealous as a teenager when her little sister, already the little angel of the family, had gotten her Hogwarts letter. Personally, James had nothing against his sister-in-law; how could he hate someone he'd never met?   
  
The other exception was on James' side of things. The Potters were generally a very open-minded family, but Richard Potter, James' grandfather, was definitely not so. Unable to accept the fact that his favorite grandson had married a girl of Muggle heritage, he didn't attend the wedding, and wouldn't even come to visit his grandson when little Harry was born. In fact, he refused to speak to James at all. As much as this saddened them, James and Lily refused to let anyone in either of their families dictate their life together. All they needed was each other, and their wonderful little son.  
  
_Only the ones who believe  
Ever see what they dream  
Ever dream what comes true  
  
And oh, love,   
Turn me around in your arms  
And in this dream we share  
Let us not miss one kiss_  
  
A cry was heard in the darkness, drawing James back to the present. His wife stirred in her slumber, opening her eyes with a yawn. Smiling, he leaned down to kiss her gently. "Stay here. I'll get him." he murmured. Climbing out of bed, he headed towards the nursery.   
  
Little Harry Potter was standing up in his crib, tears streaking his face. "Daddeee..." he cried, holding out his little arms. James lifted him out of the crib, carrying him back to the bedroom.  
  
"What's the matter, big fella? Have a bad dream?" The child made no response, but stopped crying as soon as he was held. Before James could even make it back to Lily, Harry had already fallen asleep again. His father smiled as he handed the sleeping child to his mother. This was Heaven to him, to all of them. This was the perfect world they had built for each other. Even with Voldemort rising in power, even with the knowledge the Potters held that they were prime targets, their happiness couldn't be marred.  
  
_And add my regrets  
To the tears in the rain  
For that's what the color  
Of roses contain_  
  
James lay back down with his wife, their son lying between them. He kissed Lily goodnight, then sank back against the pillow, breathing in the slightly perfumed scent of the room. Despite her name, Lily  
s favorite flower was not the lily, but the rose. She always had some growing in and out of the house, enchanted so that they could last through winter. Their fragrance delicately laced the air, weaving in and out of the senses like feathers blowing in the wind.  
  
_Only the ones who believe  
Ever see what they dream..._  
  
As he drifted off to sleep, James sent up a prayer of thanks, thanks that his dreams had been fulfilled, that his world was so blissfully complete. The moon shone down steadily on the little family that twenty-ninth of October. They were nearing the end of the life, and the end of the dream. The Dark Lord sat plotting the Potter's deaths that night, viciously sealing their fate with his plans. But you can't destroy a vision that has already been blessed into reality.   
  
_Ever dream.....  
Ever dream......  
What comes true  
_  
  



End file.
